I believe in the resurrection of the flesh - by P.K.Odendaal - January 2014.
In part 17 we spoke of the resurrection without going into detail.
There is a Nicene creed which was compiled in 325 AD in Nicea (now in Turkey)in which it says that we believe in the resurrection of the dead, which in later centuries have often been changed and adulterated to say: I believe in the resurrection of the flesh.
Although I doubt most of the creed as it is in its present form in the Dutch Reformed Church, I do now believe in the latter fully - and that because of a vision I had last week.
Vision: I had a visit by my deceased father to my house and he came to talk to me. At one stage I told him that I thought that he was a ghost or apparition, but he then told me that I could come and feel that he was flesh like I was. I stood up and touched him and he seemed to be a real person like I am.
The reason that I could see him was because he was resurrected and not counted with the everlasting dead. If you have a vision of people who are deceased, then you can surely take it as a sign that they are in Heaven as we term it.
After this vision I had to re-orientate my thinking to this, so I studied scripture to find the truth - a thing I always do to confirm my visions. It was contrary to the way I was taught when I grew up. I was taught that we become ghosts if we go to hell and angels if we go to heaven - neither having physical bodies. But I was taught wrongly.
There is a discord amongst Christians that we cannot be resurrected in the flesh because people who are cremated or die in burned down buildings will be at a disadvantage. This discord it totally unnecessary as it is usually conducted from the perspective of physical and carnal things as we know it. Such an argument is futile.
We are guided by many examples in Scripture to confirm the resurrection in the flesh:
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ, after His resurrection told Thomas:
Joh 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
2. When He met His disciples at the sea of Galilee after His resurrection:
Luk 24:41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? v:42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. v:43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
3. Paul goes into a lot of detail to explain this to us:
1 Cor. 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. v:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. v:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. v:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. v:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: v:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: v:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. v:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. v:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. v:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. v:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. v:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. v:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. v:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, v:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. v:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. v:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
4. And if the above is not enough for us, let us look at the wonderful story of the resurrection of Israel (taken spiritually):
Eze 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, v:2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. v:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. v:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. v:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: v:6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. v:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. v:8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. v:9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. v:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. v:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. v:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
I think we live in two different domains - the residents of planet Earth and the residents of heaven - though we live only a split second apart, and that is why there are so many testimonies of people who saw angels in the form of man who disappeared from their view all of a sudden like Jesus Christ appeared and disappeared from the view of the disciples and Cleopas from Emmaus: Luk 24:31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
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